First released in 1961 as a heavily revised Les Paul model, the Gibson SG, or "solid guitar" has stood the test of time and become one of the world's most famous guitar models. The SG has a lighter and thinner solid mahogany body with double asymmetrical cutaways and beveled edges that prevent the sides of the SG from "digging in" to the player's waist.

A slimmer neck was also introduced with the SG–what we now know as a "60s profile" neck. The neck attaches to the body at the 19th fret, as opposed to the 16th fret on Les Paul models. This gives the SG player great access to the upper frets and helps to explain the guitar's popularity with lead guitarists.

The sound of the SG tends to have more focus in the midrange, depending on which pickups you opt for, but the voice of the guitar is well suited to rock and metal styles. It has been a mainstay of players in those genres for decades, including Eric Clapton in the Cream days, Angus Young of AC/DC, Pete Townshend, Tony Iommi, "Revolver" era George Harrison, Elliot Easton, Ian MacKaye and Derek Trucks.

Today Gibson offers several different SG models with a wide range of features and options, such as different pickups, faded finishes, VOS (Vintage Original Spec) cosmetics, different colors, tuners, hardware and inlays, as well as various fixed and vibrato tailpiece options.